


you got a fast car (is it fast enough that we can fly away?)

by clarissalikestobop



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, F/F, Internalized Homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29470446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarissalikestobop/pseuds/clarissalikestobop
Summary: Toni Shalifhoe moves to Shelby Goodkind's high school in Texas and subsequently wrecks Shelby's perception of life.Or, an alternate universe where Toni and Shelby go to high school together set to the lyrics of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind & Toni Shalifoe, Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	you got a fast car (is it fast enough that we can fly away?)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm Clar. This is my first fanfiction, so it's a dabble into a new world. I really recommend listening to the song "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. This fanfiction will definitely be a character study. I hope you all enjoy it. Feel free to leave any comments or responses. Thanks for reading.

_You got a fast car_

_I want a ticket to anywhere_

The first time Shelby Goodkind met Toni Shalifoe was 4:13 pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Shelby lead Fellowship of Christian Athletes, meetings every Tuesday and Thursday. Players could come and go as they chose based on their practices, share their testimonies, and drink the snacks Dave Goodkind bought for Shelby. Shelby had no volleyball, so she got into her Lexus and left the school grounds.

Texas in September was like the Midwest in July. Sun beating down just as hard as the winter. Her seatbelt was still almost too hot to touch, but she wanted to get home. Everything was just a little too much.

To get home, she had to pass by the not too safe areas. The kind of place drug dealers like Dorothy Campbell would live. She had no right to judge that girl’s father like he was, but God bless her soul anyways.

As she was passing through, there she saw a shockingly somber, beautiful girl. Long, curly brown hair. Untamed and angry. Clothes so oversized it was obvious they had stories embedded in the fabric. Texas sun made those eyes like burning sunsets. She had to help the girl.

_Maybe we can make a deal_

_Maybe together we can get somewhere_

Shelby stopped immediately and rolled down her window.

“Hiya, can I give you a ride?”

The girl looked up, skepticism rooted in her downturned lips.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s only a twenty-minute walk from here.”

“So, that’ll make it - what - a five-minute drive…” Shelby was persistent in every endeavor.

“How hard would it be to make you go away,” the curly-headed girl inquired, anger implanted in her every word.

“Pretty gosh darn hard.”

“Fuck this. Whatever. This better not be human trafficking or some religious cult for the depressed underachievers,” the brunette said as she approached the car.

Shelby opened the door, and the girl, despite her attitude, climbed in. For the first time, Shelby looked into her eyes. She was undeniably beautiful in all of the unconventional ways she should have noticed, but instead, she was just seeing her pure anger. It was a sadness she had never felt before that permeated every crevice of the car.

_Any place is better_

_Starting from zero, got nothing to lose_

“I’ve never seen you before.” Shelby engaged.

“I’d hope not,” the girl stated.

“So, you’re new?” Shelby probed, hoping to get something out of the girl.

“Alright, I’ll play. I moved here from Minnesota over the summer.”

“Do you have family down here?”

The other girl chuckled.

“Yeah, I’ve got loads of incestuous relatives in the middle of Buttfuck Nowhere, Texas. No, got emancipated and moved down here with my friend’s family. Her dad got a new job, and I had no one in Minnesota to stay with.”

Shelby sat in silence for a moment. There was the root of that sadness she felt probing her skin, penetrating her body slowly. She felt guilty sitting in her Lexus her parents had given her right on her sixteenth birthday when this girl had no blood relatives to live with.

Shelby didn’t know where to go from there. Could she ask about her family? Was that overstepping their burgeoning acquaintanceship? Could she find out where the girl was staying? It all felt a little too wrong.

“You don’t have to do that sad, guilty, puppy-dog face. I’m fine. I just need to get through this year, and get the fuck out of Texas.” The intense girl said, her voice raspy and harsh. Shelby could not help but find it disingenuous, maybe afraid.

“Where do you want to go?” Shelby asked as she took a turn from the highway to a rocky, unpaved street.

The normally unbound girl paused. “Somewhere far away from here. Hoping for a basketball scholarship.”

“Are you trying out for the team?”

The girl perked up for the first second. Something light. Something she could love with no pain.

“Yeah, I was starting point guard back home. Indiana was recruiting me. Don’t know if they still are, but it was pretty fucking dope. Texas might want me, but I can’t tell if my grades would let me. I’m not in the top ten of the class. Not by a long shot. So, now it’s up to recruiters, but trust me, I’ll be starting by next month.” She rambled, speaking with a vigor and a passion only possible with something she truly loved.

Shelby nodded, noticing how cocky the girl was. It was refreshing. Dave Goodkind would disapprove of everything about this girl. Her cursing. Her vitality. Her anger. Her oversized men’s clothes. Her dark, rage-colored language.

Shelby rolled up to the girl’s house. It was two stories, fairly dilapidated, but clearly built for a home - a family. A girl wearing navy leggings, a Gap t-shirt, and a smile the antithesis of everything the rage-filled girl was sat out front on a rocking chair. I guessed that was the best friend she moved with.

She was about to open the door when I placed my hand on her shoulder. She immediately pivoted, looked at me, and scorned the hand away with her dark, piercing eyes. I shrugged it off.

“I never even got your name. I’m Shelby. Shelby Goodkind.”

The girl fiddled with the words as if she wasn’t used to being worthy of saying her name back.

“I’m Toni.”

Shelby wanted more.

“Just Toni. Nothing else. You’re like Cher or Madonna. Too cool for a last name.” Shelby joked with Toni, almost noticing a hint of a smile shift her face.

“So I was on to something. I am being recruited for a cult.”

Shelby laughed, big and full. This girl was charming.

“You think I would drive you to your house if I was going to make you join my cult.”

“I don’t know. You seem smart. You might have plans,” Toni said as she climbed out of the car, grabbed her rustic, tan backpack, and an anatomy textbook only held together by the hinges.

Right before Toni could close the door, she glanced at Shelby up and down, as if casing a piece of rare jewelry.

“It’s Toni Shalifoe.”

Shelby felt something unusual. An attraction. The need to befriend this girl. The need to understand the roots of her anger. The need to make her laugh again. The need to watch her play the sport she was so passionate about.

“Well Toni Shalifoe, maybe you should come to visit me another time. I run Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The whole basketball team usually comes Thursdays when it’s their season. If not, I’m always down to give you a lift. I’ve got a fast car. Maybe together we can get somewhere.”

Toni glanced away, and a soft smirk rose to her lips.

“You know, I would, but someone told me God doesn’t like dykes too much. But maybe I’ll take you up on that ride sometime.

Then and there, Toni slammed the door closed, winked, and ran to the perky girl on the front porch.

Shelby sat there confused. Should she feel guilty or offended or apathetic? No one ever admitted to not believing in God nor being gay. There were two more things Dave Goodkind would dislike about the girl. She was gay, and she did not believe in the Lord. That was damnation. Shelby wanted everything in her body to drive away assured she would never speak to Toni Shalifhoe ever again. Toni was clearly a bad influence, and no amount of scripture would shift the girl's radical mindset. But Shelby couldn't minimize her connection to Toni. There was something burgeoning and becoming no matter how hard she tried to rub away the feelings. The need to know her could not be erased. Shelby knew with every ounce of her body this would not be the last time they saw each other. Shelby knew Toni Shalifhoe was going to be the inedible mark on her spotless life, and as much as she wanted to hate it, she was infatuated with the idea of change.

_Maybe we’ll make something_

_Me, myself, I got nothing to prove_

**Author's Note:**

> So, that was the first chapter. It was certainly a lot shorter than the subsequent chapters. I just wanted to see if it had the durability to be a real thing. I hope you enjoyed it. Also, I am considering writing a Glee AU with Shoni, so feel free to comment if that would be something you all are interested in. It would be much longer than this fic. Anyways, thank you so much for reading my first ever fanfiction (excluding my Klaine fanfiction when I was 12 years old.)


End file.
